Safety-crank.



L. w. woon/VINE.

SAFETY CRANK. APPHCATION FILED AUG.3. 1917.

l ,ZQQQUSL .Patentedv Feb. 25, 1919.

Witnesses Inventor @if Attorneys NETE AFQS LUDY W. WOOLVVINE, OF BECKWITI-I, VEST VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-'HALF TO DANIEL BOONE, OF ABNEY, WEST VIRGINIA.

SAFETYCRAN K.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25, 1919.

Application filed .August 3, 1917. Serial No. 184,276.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, LUDY W. WooLwiNn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Beckwith, in the county of Fayette and State of West Virginia, have invented a new and useful Safety-Crank, of which the following is a specication.

r1`he present invention appertains to a safety crank for starting automobiles or other internal combustion engines, and is particularly an improvement over the safety cranking device disclosed in my Patent No. 1,168,694, granted January 18, 1916.

It is the object of the invention to provide novel and improved meansrfor automatically disconnecting the hand crank from its shaft in the event that ther shaft has a reversed rotation, as in case of back firing, whereby to prevent injury to the person cranking, as is not infrequently the case with the use of ordinary rigid cranks.-

The invention has for a more specic object, provision of simple yet effective means for releasing the main pawl or dog of the crank arm from the ratchet wheel of the shaft, controlled by the handle of the crank.

Vith the foregoing and other objects in view, which will appear as the descriptionV proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and 1n the details of construction hereinafter de-4 scribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved crank, portions being broken away and shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, portions being broken away.

The crank is used, as usual, for rotating the engine starting shaft 1 having a clutch head 2 for engaging the engine shaft to turn it over, and said crank embodies the radial crank arm 3 provided at its inner end with a bifurcated portion or fork 4 mounted loosely or rotatably upon the shaft 1, a ratchet wheel 5 being secured upon the shaft within said fork to rotate with the shaft. A U-shapedcover 6 is preferably secured, by means of screws or otherwise, upon the fork 4 to inclose the slot thereof and the ratchet wheel 5, to avoid the collection of dirt or grit therein. A rod or stem 7 is slidable through a. longitudinal bore 8 with which the arm 3 is provided, said bore eX- tending from the slot of the fork to a recess 9 with which the outer free end of the arm is provided, and the inner end of the rod 7 has a pawl or dog 10 engageable with the teeth of the ratchet wheel v5. Thus, when the dog 10 engages the ratchet wheel, the crank can be rotated counter clockwise, as seen in Fig. 2, for rotating the shaft l to start the engine. The foregoing parts,with the exception of the cover 6, are disclosed in said patent, and the gist of the present invention resides in the novel means for retracting the rod 7 and dog 10, controlled from the crank handle-11 of the crank, as will presently appear. i

The handle 11 has a bore extending from its inner end and is fitted rotatably upon a tubular spindle 12 having one end secured in any suitable manner to the arm 3 adjacent to its outer free end. A- shaft 131is journaled for rotation through the spindle 12 and has one end threadedly or otherwise engaged to the handle 11 whereby said shaft and handle rotate together, the shaft hold- 'ing the handle upon the spindle. The other end of the shaft 13 has a ratchet wheel 14 thereon abutting the corresponding end of the spindle 12, to hold the shaft in place.

A rocking block or member 15 is disposed within the recess 9, and is provided with a circular recess 16 fitting a circular head 17 with which the outer end of the rod is provided, whereby to provide a pivotal connection between said rod and member, a screw 18 or other retaining element being engaged with the rod 7 and holding in place a washer 19 which overlaps the member 15 to hold it assembled with the rod and against the wall of the recess 9. The member 15 has an outwardly projecting dog or pawl 20 provided with a series of ratchet teeth 21 engageable with the teeth of the ratchet wheel 14. A coiled wire retractile spring 22 disposed at one side of the member 15, has one end connected thereto and its other end connected to the arm 3, whereby said spring tends not only to swing the member 15 toward the left, as seen in Fig. 2, but also 'tends to move the member- 15 and rod 7 with the ratchet wheel 5. A cover 23 is secured to the outer portion of the arm over the recess 9, to inclose the parts therein, and protect them from dirt and grit.

In operation, when the handle 1l is revolved to turn the crank counter clockwise,

as seen in Fig. 2, the handle will be rotatedV clockwise, with respect to the crank arm, opposite to the arrow in Figli 2, and the teeth of the ratchet wheel can snap past the teeth 21, the spring'22 pullingthe member l5 inwardly', to hold the dog 10 against 'the ratchet wheel 5, whereby the shaft l will turn with' the crank. Should the engine backfire, thereby turning theV shaft l and ratchetwheel 5 clockwise in the d'ir'ectionof thefarrow in'Fig: 2', this willcarry the dog 10,' rod`-7 and arm 3'but avery short' distance with the shaftv l c'loclnvise, as seen in Fig. 2. Thisis "diieto the factthat thehandle ll bering grippedv by thel operator and being m'ovedv clockwise', will cause the ratchet wheel'I 14 tol rotate-'counter clockwise, with respect to the crank arm 8, as indicated by the arrow ingFig.-2, and teeth ofthe ratchet wheellet \\`-*ill,*tlie1"efore, engage'the teeth 2l and' pull the dogy or rack member 2O outwardly against the tension of the spring 22, thereby reti-acting the rod 4' and dog 10. This will remove the dogl() from the ratchetl wheel 5, after' the' arm 3 has moved but a shortdis'tance, thus disengaging the crank from the'shaft, sothat' the crank will'notI be turnedf faijtlier`-"a'itli the shaft l, which will avoid injury to the operator. It willf be noted* that the dog 'having the teeth 2l will" provide a rack engageable with the ratchet` wheel' dii-ring its rotation in one directi'on-,toretract' the'dog 10 in case of the reversed rotation of the crank arm and handle. However, as soon 'as the crank is again turnedcounter clockwise, as seen in Fig. 2, the rotation of the handle 11 clockwise relativelyA to the arm, will enable the dog l0 to again engage the ratchet Wheel 5 to rotate the shaft l, no resetting being necessary after the engine has back ired, since the dog l0 after being automatically retracted from the ratchet wheel 5, will again engage it as soon as the arm is rotated in the proper direction for starting the engine.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A safety crank embodying a shaft, a crank arm rotatable thereon, gripping means rigid on the shaft, a handle rotatably mounted on the arm, gripping means rigid on the handle, slidably mounted engaging means associated with the arm and in removable engagement with the gripping means on the shaft, said ineanscomprising a rod, a rack pivotally secured to the rod with its teeth normally in engagement with the gripping means on the handle, and an element secured to the arm and to the rack to retain the rack in movable engagen'ient with the gripping means onthe handle and actuatable by the reverse movement of the handle due to back-firing of the engine to release' the slidable engaging means from the gripping means on the shaft'.v

ln' testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto afliXed my signature in the presencefof two witnesses.

LUDY W. WLWINE. Witnesses P. B. WALKER, E, A. UNDERWooD;

Cpiesdr thispatent may be obtained for iv'e cents each, by'adre'ssing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D; 0; 

